All may not be lost for drunken drivers whose cars are seized by police.

Although the police are still hammering out their new “zero tolerance” DWI initiative, a look at the NYPD’s other car confiscation programs shows it’s not impossible to get a seized car back from cops.

Drivers whose cars have been seized for offenses such as drug buying, soliciting prostitutes and burglary are more likely than not to get their wheels back, say police sources.

Last year, the NYPD returned 1,068 seized vehicles to their owners. The number of cars seized was unavailable.

Although the majority were given back because forfeiture was determined to be unwarranted, most of the remaining cases were settled after the owners agreed to pay the city a portion – usually 15 to 25 percent – of the vehicle’s book value.

Robert Messner, the NYPD’s lead attorney for civil enforcement, said it’s too early to say whether cars seized as part of the new DWI initiative will be handled the same way.

“We have not yet looked at what the settlement process will be,” Messner said. “DWI is a very different type of crime because the car is the dangerous thing. I would think that the cases may end up being analyzed very differently.”

As of Friday morning, police had seized 50 vehicles from people charged with driving while intoxicated.

Police did not confiscate vehicles driven by 22 other accused drunken drivers because the automobiles didn’t belong to them.

Under guidelines currently in place, cops seize hundreds of cars each year from drug dealers, drug buyers and johns along with dozens of other vehicles used in the commission of crimes. In serious cases, the owner has little chance of getting the car back.

“If the guy’s moving a [kilo] of cocaine in his car, we’re not giving it back to him,” Messner said.

But for less serious offenses, particularly patronizing hookers, cars are returned for a price – generally no more than 25 percent of their book value, Messner said.

Steven Kessler, a lawyer who specializes in forfeiture law, criticized the city’s auto seizures as a money-making program.

“There is an incentive either to seize very nice cars or to have a buy-back program,” Kessler charged.

But Messner contended that the city loses money seizing cars. “It’s not a moneymaker,” he said. “We’re trying to address crime issues. We’re making a statement and trying to deter other people.”

Neither Messner nor the NYPD could provide statistics indicating how much money is made selling cars back to their owners or auctioning them off.

Last year, the NYPD put 59 cars up for auction, down from 239 the previous year. Another five cars were kept for law-enforcement purposes.